Dayton wants out of No Child Left Behind
Gov. Dayton is taking swift action today to opt out of the federal No Child Left Behind standards. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that the federal government will start granting waiver to states that want to opt out of the No Child Left Behind law that was passed in 2001. Dayton issues a statement today saying he would do just that.
"Any education reform in Minnesota must begin and end with what is best for our children. The decade old federal law, known as No Child Left Behind, has failed to meet that standard. When it was enacted in 2001, nine of the ten members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation, including all three Republicans and myself, voted against it. Unfortunately, we were right. NCLB has imposed rigid testing requirements, many of which have harmed, not improved, the quality of students' learning experiences. It has labeled many schools wrongly, by applying invalid statistical measures.
"We can and must do better for our children. That is why today I have approved Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius' request to apply for the recently announced federal waiver, exempting schools temporarily from the flawed testing requirements and punitive sanctions of the current No Child Left Behind law.
"Such a waiver would allow Minnesota educators to focus on what is working in their schools. It would provide school boards, administrators, teachers, and parents with the flexibility they need to implement the reforms the Legislature and I enacted in the recent session."
As noted in the statement, Dayton voted against the No Child Left Behind Law in 2001. The only member of the delegation to vote for the bill was DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar. DFL Rep. Bill Luther abstained from voting.
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